Tag: memes

If you’ve noticed that your website traffic and/or search rankings were significantly down this week, you might have been affected by Google’s EMD and Panda 20. How convenient of Google to release these updates right before the weekend and so close to each other that site owners will have a hard time figuring out what went wrong. Like the Panda and Penguin algorithm, the exact match domain updates will also be reoccurring in the future.

During this tumultuous time, many webmasters are becoming increasingly frustrated with keeping up with acceptable SEO best practices. Here are 4 memes that may properly convey the emotions that you can’t quite put into words:

1) Derp guy best represents owners who are clueless about their website and Google’s quality guidelines. Many businesses have websites that are built, optimized and forgotten. Even though it might not seem like that long ago, the SEO world is always evolving. Recently, it’s constantly changing at an even faster pace than most SEOs can keep up with. Some search marketing companies provide clients with quarterly or semi-annual reports. Don’t wait! In the midst of all these algorithm updates, if you haven’t heard about the state of your website recently, it’s time to ask and get informed. No more herp-derping allowed.

2) Rage guy knows exactly how you feel. Your site was a well-ranking exact match domain that virtually disappeared from SERPs overnight. All because an exact or partially matched domain that was purchased years ago? Why, Google… why? It’s too early to tell exactly what the factors are but sites from all different industries have been affected. Dr. Pete’s early analysis of 1000 sites showed that even credible, established sites like the Michigan Association of Public School Academies (MAPSA) can take a hit, all because of the “exact match” domain – charterschools.org. While your rage is warranted, it’s best channeled into productive activities. This means not trolling search marketing sites and leaving negative comments about Matt Cutts or Danny Sullivan, but rather researching them for your plan of action.

3) Challenge accepted guy can relate to rage guy, but differs in that he’ll do something constructive about it. Sometimes, you just need to ask for help or have a different set of eyes look at your website, back link profile, quality of content etc. Who says that you have to go through this alone? Many companies are available for consultation, you can get training and learn from webinars/seminars. And there are also helpful forums (like Google Product Forums) for free feedback. Challenge accepted guy isn’t going to let Google discourage him from regaining his rankings, especially before the busy season of the holidays. Let’s do this thing!

4) Forever alone guy is feeling alone. He just can’t take it anymore! After Penguin’s massive hit in April, his site traffic has virtually dried up. No clicks, no calls and no emails. Visitors that make it to his site aren’t even sticking around and his bounce rate is high as ever. Social networking? Forget about it… this guy has no interest in social signals. But then again, what loner does? Don’t feel too bad for him though, he might just try his luck on loneliness with Bing or Yahoo. At least then, he won’t feel so alone…

Was your site affected by the recent algorithm updates? Feel free to share the meme that best describes your feelings.